Various technologies have been proposed for linking from physical media (e.g., magazine advertisements) to the Internet.
The present assignee offers a service (MediaBridge™) that relies on digital watermarking technology to surreptitiously convey a plural bit identifier within the artwork of an advertisement. This identifier is read by software in a user's computer and forwarded to a remote database. The remote database identifies a URL corresponding to the identifier, and provides the URL back to the user's computer—permitting a browser on the user's computer to display the URL-identified web page. This system, and the associated digital watermarking technology, is further detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,260, in copending application Ser. Nos. 09/343,104, 09/503,881 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,914), 60/158,015, 60/163,332, 60/164,619, and in application Ser. No. 09/531,076, filed Mar. 20, 2000, entitled SYSTEM FOR LINKING FROM OBJECTS TO REMOTE RESOURCES.
Another approach relies on publication of bar code identifiers in advertisements. A barcode reading pen, or similar device, is used to sense the barcode, which is then processed to provide a corresponding URL. Such technology is disclosed, e.g., in the present assignee's application Ser. No. 09/452,021, and in issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,978,773, 5,971,277, 5,918,214, 5,933,829, and 5,905,251.
In accordance with the present invention, a scanner is provided with means to discern an identifier (encoded as a digital watermark, a barcode, or both) from scan data. The scanner can provide this identifier to an auxiliary device (e.g., a local or remote computer), or can utilize the information internally (e.g., by presenting same to the user).
In a particular implementation, a hand scanner—such as the HP CapShare 920 scanner—is adapted (i.e., programmed) for this purpose.
The foregoing and additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.